Don't Get Too Comfortable

Saturday, April 28, 2012

On this week's All Ears we shake things up a bit with a kind of musical hopscotch. Terrance McKnight explores colorful works produced with movement in mind.

Featured on the show is a movement from Paul Lansky's composition Still Time. It was "conceived as a kind of film music without images, perhaps reminiscent of the idea of a 'song without words,'" writes Lansky.

Lansky said his works for computer "have tended to focus on the ways in which this technology can be used to expand and deepen our sense of the sounds of the world around us, rather than on the invention of 'new sounds.'"

Other compositions on the docket are Tanguori by Jeremy Cohen performed by the Quartet San Francisco: a classical journey which brings to mind an Astor Piazzolla tango. Multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood's Proven Lands, as well as a piece by Roberto Sierra, Trio No. 2, are performed by the New York chamber ensemble Continuum.

The latter was a commission for the group in 2002 and centers around a single twelve-tone sequence. In four movements, the first and last incorporate Afro-Caribbean beats, and sandwich the composition with salsa rhythms. The second and third movements add a meaty texture that only carry subtle links to the framework's climate.

Related

Follow WQXR

About All Ears with Terrance McKnight

All Ears with Terrance McKnight is a weekly show about musical discovery. Covering a wide range of styles, genres and periods, the show celebrates the diverse musical passions of its host, Terrance McKnight, as well as occasional guests -- including performers, composers, choreographers, critics and others. As music and ideas are experienced side by side, the power of music to transform is revealed and celebrated.